Day 9 Sausheim to Wandshut

100 km (62 miles) day, 573 miles total

Another great day. Sunny until early afternoon and then mixed sun and cloud for the rest of the day.31°C at 9:30 according to a click in a village. Continued on the Rhône- Rhine canal towards Basel. Beautiful morning with many fishermen, and swans with their signets, on a crystal clear reflective canal. Passed through the Petite Camargue Alsatian nature reserve. It’s nine years since I cycled the big Camargue on the Canal du Midi to the Mediterranean! The route signage indicated that I was now on EuroVelo 15 (The Rhine Cycle Route) and well as EuroVelo 6 (Atlantic to Black Sea). This will be the case for a couple of days. Arrived in Basel in good time and went to the Marktplatz. I sat on the same bench, in front of McDonalds, admiring the 16th Century Town Hall just as I had three years ago on my Zagreb-Brussels ride. This time I was heading upstream and South, rather than Downstream and North. Basel is really pretty and deserves a full day sometime. It was busy so I set off again. Unfortunately, about an hour later I got squeezed into the kerb by an inattentive driver on an unsegregated bike path. Took a dive of course. Happily the bike was still functionally OK. For me, just some road rash on hands, knees and big toes - which the flies love - and a jarred right wrist. A lady travelling in the opposite direction stopped. She must have been carrying a first aid kit in her car for years - and this was the moment! In spite of my protests she covered me in BandAids - which were impractical and came off soon. Very nice if her though. Stopped at the next town for a glass of morale-medicine which did the trick. Swiss villages are very nice along the Rhine. Looked so a sheltered, seated, place to make my lunch sandwich. Ended up on a concrete block bench at a rural railway station. Luxury gets redefined on these trips! Continued along the side of the Rhine valley and found another lovely campsite where you can swim in the Rhine (did that the last Rhine ride but the water here is amazing). Off now to cook dinner and I’ll have a whiskey nightcap tonight. Round the Zellet Zee tomorrow and I might make it a short day as I expect the wrist to stiffen.

Early morning canal